Donald Trump tells North Korea that the US is ‘locked and loaded’ if needed

August 12, 2017 1:55pm

(COMBO) This combo of file photos shows an image (L) taken on April 15, 2017 of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on a balcony of the Grand People's Study House following a military parade in Pyongyang; and an image (R) taken on July 19, 2017 of US President Donald Trump speaking during the first meeting of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity in Washington, DC. Nuclear-armed North Korea mocked President Donald Trump as "bereft of reason" on August 10, 2017, raising the stakes in their stand-off with an unusually detailed plan to send a salvo of missiles towards the US territory of Guam. / AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB AND Ed JONES

NORTH Korea has lashed back at the US following President Donald Trump’s latest warnings.

In an editorial on Saturday, North Korea’s Minju Joson newspaper said that the US “finds itself in an ever worsening dilemma, being thrown into the grip of extreme security unrest by the DPRK. This is tragicomedy of its own making.”

DPRK stands for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The paper said: “The powerful revolutionary Paektusan army of the DPRK, capable of fighting any war the US wants, is now on the standby to launch fire into its mainland, waiting for an order of final attack.”

It continued: “If the Trump administration does not want the American empire to meet its tragic doom in its tenure, they had better talk and act properly.”

The comments came after Trump unleashed a slew of fresh threats against North Korea this morning, declaring the US military “locked and loaded.”

A shelter sign is displayed in case of a possible North Korea artillery attack at the entrance to a subway station in Seoul, South Korea. Picture: APSource: AP

TRUMP TALKS UP WAR

President Trump has confirmed he is considering a military option against North Korea in his latest salvo in an escalating war of words with Pyongyang’s nuclear-armed regime.

“Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!” Mr Trump tweeted.

Mr Trump also warned of severe consequences if North Korea attacks Guam.

Trump says he has yet to speak with the governor of the territory, but says, “I feel that they will be very safe, believe me.” He adds, “if anything happens to Guam, there’s going to be big, big trouble in North Korea.”

His comments come as Guam has also issued emergency guidelines for its residents should a nuclear attack occur.

Mr Trump also said the US is considering additional sanctions on North Korea, “as strong as they get,” while leaving open the possibility of military action.

“We will see what happens,” he said. “We think that lots of good things could happen, and we could also have a bad situation.” Asked if a bad situation meant going to war with North Korea, he said: “I think you know the answer to that.”

Military solutions are now fully in place,locked and loaded,should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!

Mr Trump later continued his bellicose rhetoric at a press briefing later in the day, saying that if Kim did “anything with respect to Guam” that he “will truly regret it, and he will regret it fast.”

He said Washington was looking “very carefully” at its military options, and that he hoped Kim had taken his words to heart in recent days.

North Korea has said it is readying plans to launch missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam.

“I hope that they are going to fully understand the gravity of what I said, and what I said is what I mean,” Mr Trump told reporters.

US President Donald Trump answers questions regarding the ongoing situation in North Korea, Friday, at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Picture: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/APSource: AP

Speaking to reporters from his New Jersey golf resort, Trump declined to explain precisely what he meant by the boast of military readiness.

He brushed away calls for caution from world leaders, including Germany’s Angela Merkel.

And he directly called out Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader, as a destabilising force who should not be allowed to continue his course.

‘If he utters one threat in the form of an overt threat … or he does anything with respect to Guam or anyplace else that’s an American territory or an American ally, he will truly regret it and he will regret it fast,’ Trump said.

The US president’s stern attacks on Friday ratcheted up his war of words with Kim over North Korea’s weapons program, as Beijing appealed to the two leaders to dampen their fiery exchange.

A day prior Mr Trump had hardened his warning that Pyongyang would face “fire and fury” if it kept threatening the United States, saying maybe his tough talk “wasn’t tough enough.”

Mr Trump also warned North Korea it should be “very, very nervous” of the consequences if it even thinks of attacking US soil, after Pyongyang said it was readying plans to launch missiles towards the Pacific territory of Guam.

Pyongyang said the scheme to target the island, a key US military outpost in the western Pacific, was intended to “signal a crucial warning” as “only absolute force” would have an effect on a US leader “bereft of reason.”

Mr Trump said he would also have a phone call on Friday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to discuss the stand-off over North Korea’s nuclear drive.

“That phone call (with Xi) will take place tonight,” Trump told reporters in New Jersey.

“We have been working very closely with China and with other countries.”

Beijing on Friday pleaded with the US and North Korea for restraint, urging the two parties “to be cautious with their words and actions.”

China has repeatedly urged a resumption of long-dormant six-party talks to peacefully resolve the crisis, but its position has been overshadowed by the emerging brinkmanship between Mr Trump and Kim.

The launch of the Hwasong-12 missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Picture: KRT via APSource: AP

GUAM ISSUES NUCLEAR ATTACK GUIDELINES

Meanwhile, Guam has posted emergency guidelines to help residents prepare for any potential nuclear attack as North Korea threatened to fire missiles at the US Pacific territory.

Pyongyang’s state-run KCNA news agency said on Thursday its army would complete plans in mid-August to fire four intermediate-range missiles over Japan to land near Guam amid increasingly heated rhetoric over the North’s nuclear weapons program.

North Korea did not threaten Guam with a nuclear attack, but the crisis between Pyongyang and the United States has stirred fears that of nuclear conflict in the region.

North Korea said it was readying plans to launch missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam. Picture: Tassanee Vejpongsa/APSource: AP

Guam Governor Eddie Calvo said there was no heightened threat but the government has issued a preparedness fact sheet, which covers what to do before, during and after a nuclear attack.

“Do not look at the flash or fireball – It can blind you,” it said. “Take cover behind anything that might offer protection.”

If caught outside, it says to “remove your clothing to keep radioactive material from spreading.” It suggests having an emergency plan and supply kit and a list of potential concrete structures near home, work and school to serve as fallout shelters.

Guam Governor Eddie Calvo’s government has issued a preparedness fact sheet, which covers what to do before, during and after a nuclear attack. Picture: Tassanee Vejpongsa/APSource: AP

The fact sheet advises people to not scrub or scratch the skin, use soap, shampoo and water but avoid hair conditioner because it binds radioactive material.

It also advises parents to stay where they are and wait for instructions, even if they are separated from their children. Guam is home to about 163,000 people and a US military base.

RUSSIA: ‘VERY ALARMED’ BY TRUMP THREATS

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov cautioned on Friday that the risks of escalation of tensions between the US and North Korea were “very high” following the recent war of words.

“I believe the risks are very high, especially considering this rhetoric, when direct threats of using force are voiced,” Mr Lavrov said at a youth forum in the Vladimir region east of Moscow.

Mr Lavrov did not refer to Mr Trump’s most recent remark but said Moscow is “very alarmed” at Washington’s rhetoric of preemptive military action. He added that the United States, as a more powerful state than North Korea, should take the first step to cool tensions.

“When a fight has nearly broken out, the first step away from the dangerous threshold should be taken by the side that is stronger and smarter,” Mr Lavrov said.

Moscow has joined China to push an initiative that would see Pyongyang halt missile tests in return for the US ending military drills in the region.

“Kim Jong-Un freezes any nuclear tests or ballistic missile launches, while the US and South Korea freeze massive military drills that are constantly used by North Korea as a pretext for holding tests and proclamations about relying on their nuclear power,” Mr Lavrov said of the plan.

The “double freeze” plan would be a step toward the goal of “de-nuclearising the Korean peninsula,” he said.

Missiles are displayed during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea. Picture: Wong Maye-E/APSource: AP

TRUMP’S SECRET BACK CHANNEL DIPLOMACY

Beyond the bluster, the Trump administration has been quietly engaged in back channel diplomacy with North Korea for several months, addressing Americans imprisoned in the communist country and deteriorating relations between the long-time foes.

It had been known the two sides had discussions to secure the June release of an American university student. But it wasn’t known until now that the contacts have continued, or that they have broached matters other than US detainees.

People familiar with the contacts told the Associated Press the interactions have done nothing thus far to quell tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile advances, which are now fueling fears of military confrontation.

Joseph Yun, the US envoy for North Korea policy, meets regularly with a senior North Korean diplomat at the country’s UN mission. Picture: Toru Yamanaka/APSource: AP

But they say the behind-the-scenes discussions could still be a foundation for more serious negotiation, including on North Korea’s nuclear weapons, should President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un put aside the bellicose rhetoric of recent days and endorse a dialogue.

The contacts are occurring regularly between Joseph Yun, the US envoy for North Korea policy, and Pak Song Il, a senior North Korean diplomat at the country’s UN mission, according to US officials and others briefed on the process. They weren’t authorized to discuss the confidential exchanges and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Officials call it the “New York channel.” Yun is the only US diplomat in contact with any North Korean counterpart. The communications largely serve as a way to exchange messages, allowing Washington and Pyongyang to relay information.

Drowned out by the furor over Trump’s warning to North Korea of “fire and fury like the world has never seen,” US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has expressed a willingness to entertain negotiations. His condition: Pyongyang stopping tests of missiles that can now potentially reach the US mainland.

Mr Tillerson has even hinted at an ongoing back channel. “We have other means of communication open to them, to certainly hear from them if they have a desire to want to talk,” he said at an Asian security meeting in the Philippines this week.

The interactions could point to a level of pragmatism in the Trump administration’s approach to the North Korean threat, despite the president’s dire warnings.